Andrew Wilkinson

About the Author

Andrew is a seasoned trader and commentator of global financial markets. He worked for several London-based banks trading cash and derivatives before moving to the U.S. to attend graduate school. Andrew re-joins Interactive Brokers following a two-year stretch at a major Wall Street broker-dealer as their Chief Economic Strategist. His coverage of stocks, options, futures, forex and bonds regularly surfaces in global media, and over the last several years Andrew has made many TV appearances on Bloomberg, BBC, CNBC and BNN and Yahoo Finance.

Payroll gains were ahead of expectations for March as employers added 215,000 employees. Ahead of the report market forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg estimated a monthly gain of 205,000. The unemployment rate advanced by one-tenth to 5.0% as more people were drawn to the labor force.

Richmond Federal Reserve chief Jeff Lacker dissented and voted in favor of an immediate increase of 25 bps in the fed funds rate of interest on Thursday, but that’s unlikely to provide financial headlines on Friday.

Heading into the long Labor Day weekend, investors were dealt a curious report from the Bureau of Labor. The headline gain of 173,000 new jobs was most certainly below par. The estimate from Bloomberg before the release called for a gain of 217,000 jobs.

Implied volatility came screaming off as the stock market rallied on Tuesday. The catalyst was a warm and fuzzy feeling flowing from China after the central bank slashed interest rates in an effort to help stem the tide of selling.

Shares in U.S. Steel are bucking the broader market Thursday, adding 1.05% to stand at $20.26 and off an earlier-in-the-week low of $15.68. The move follows a midweek rally on heavy share volume after a two-month malaise for the stock.

The June ADP survey of private sector hiring showed a pick-up in the pace of hiring across the board. Private companies hired 237,000 new workers last month, beating the Bloomberg forecast among economists of 218,000. The pace increased from 203,000 seen in May.